Improvement in bouquet-holders



E. wiLnER.

Improvement in Bouquet-Holderfs.`

N0. 129,444. Patented July 16, 1872.

FIG. Z

UNITED STATES ATENE OFFICE.

IMPROVEMENT IN BOUQUET-HOLDERS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 129,444, dated July 1G, 1872.

To all 'whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ELlHU WILDER, of Springiield, in the county of Hampden and State of Massachusetts, have invented a new and useful ImprovedBouquet-Holder and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawing making a part of this specification, and to the letters of reference marked thereon, in which- Figure 1 is a side view of my invention as applied to use in holding a bouquet, and Fig. 2 is a longitudinal section of the holder.

My invention relates to a device intended to be used to hold a bouquet and to keep it moist at the same time, while it may be carried in the hand without moistening the hand or glove by the water contained in the holder; and it consists of a metallic shell or vessel, which is suiciently stii or rigid at and near the base to be carried in the hand without crushing or bending it, while at and near the top it is sufficiently exible to be bent in around the stems of the flowers so as to close the top and prevent the water from being spilled, and will, if filled full of lower-stems, of itself assume the general shape or form of the bulk of the ilower-stems placed therein.

That others skilled in the art may be able to understand fully the nature and construction of my invention and its application to use, I will proceed to describe the same.

ln the drawing, A represents the holder, which is of a generally cylindrical form, though slightly tapered, being a little larger in diameter at the top, so that they may set into each other in packing for shipment, to occupy less bulk, and they are preferably drawn up from a disk of any suitably exible metal-Britannia, or a composition of tin and copper being very suitable for the purpose-and they may be drawn out by a punch and die, similar to the process of making metallic cartridge-cases, in such manner that while the base is quite thick and stiff, as shown in Fig. 2, the top is quite thin and flexible, so that it may very easily be bent into any desired shape, and

' even folded over, if desired. The tubes may be drawn, if desirable, at first in a cylindrical form, and afterward stretched a little to give them the tapered form; or they may have the tapered form given to them during the process of drawing. or corrugated, or they may be spun up into any ornamental shape, as in the ordinary process of spinning soft-metal vessels.

As applied to use, a bouquet being placed therein, with sufficient water to keep the iiowers moist a-nd fresh, the'top of the holder is crimped or bent in closely around the stems at a, as shown clearly in Fig. 1, and the holder then adheres closely to the bouquet andthe water in the holder cannot be spilled out. This holder possesses great advantages over the ordinary methods of keeping ilfoWers moist while being held in the hand, as the bouquet and its holder may be carried in the hand `for any length of time without spoiling even the most delicate gloves with the water, while they may be made as ornamental in shape or design as desirable.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

As a new article of manufacture, a flexible metallic bouquet-holder, constructed substantially as and operating in the manner described.

ELIHU WILDER.

Witnesses:

T. A. CURTIS, M. L. BoYNroN.

If desirable, they may be uted p 

